In recent years there have been particularly rapid advances in the fields of mobile telephone communications and in communications between users implemented by computer systems. It is now commonplace for people, particularly in industrialised nations, to own a mobile telephone device which they typically keep about their person and use frequently as a primary means of voice communication with remotely positioned “contacts” such as family, friends, work colleagues and other acquaintances. Mobile telephone device handsets have been developed which provide increasing functionality and features whereby a person no longer is required to remember the telephone number and other details of their contacts since these are stored in an onboard phonebook (also referred to as an addressbook). An example such additional functionality of mobile telephone devices in recent years has been the provision of other services such as “text messaging” using the short message service (SMS) and also “web-enabled” features provided by devices equipped with mobile internet capability. Nevertheless, for most users the primary function of such mobile telephone devices is in the making and receiving of voice calls, primarily with contacts whose details are held in their phonebook onboard the mobile telephone device.
In parallel with these developments there have been rapid advances in the provision of connectivity between computers throughout the world and this in turn has increased the connectivity possible between people. It is now commonplace, in the industrialised world at least, for people to have access to personal computers at home and in the workplace, each of which are connectable to the Internet and allow communication between remote users by means such as email.
Relatively recently, a new phenomenon has emerged whereby users interact with one another through a web-enabled site to which each person has access and has registered an “account”, part of which is typically a “profile” of that person, giving information about them which is visible to others. Such a website allows users to share information including text, sound files, images and other data. The use of such websites including Facebook and MySpace has given rise to the concept of “online social networking”.
One practical disadvantage of these developments is that the electronic “presence” of a particular user may be distributed across a number of different online and electronic services and there is a tendency for a proliferation of connectivity which can be difficult to manage by the user. Furthermore, since there is no single system used by all, due to the organic growth of such services, users are required to access individual services independently. A further issue is that whilst in general people do experience a high degree of accessibility via laptop and desktop computers, unlike mobile telephones, these are typically not close to hand at all times. Indeed a person may use different computers at different times of the day whereas typically a single mobile telephone device is used regardless of the time of day. There is therefore a need to provide enhanced access and interactivity with the contacts of any particular user through electronic means and it is in this context in which the present invention has arisen.